Respect Gained As A Captain
by GoldGuardian2418
Summary: When Luffy begins to doubt himself as a captain, Brook steps in to prove that Luffy is a good captain. :) Tickles inside. :)


**This idea came to me some time back and I've been itching to do it. :)**

 **Also, again an advance apology to One Piece fans that I cannot accept any One Piece requests, but depending on my muse, more One Piece stories just might come.**

 **One Piece belongs to its respective owners. I own nothing.**

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 **Respect Gained As A Captain**

It was a very late evening on the ship as Luffy sighed, unable to fall asleep for some reason. The crew had a good day and had found some treasure and the others had celebrated happily before returning to the ship and their quarters to sleep peacefully.

Sighing, Luffy finally got up and walked out of his room and up to the deck. A half-moon was in the sky and lit up the area in a soft glow, but he hardly paid any mind to it as he headed for the ship's rail and leaned on it, another sigh escaping him as he recalled the journey he and his friends had been on so far.

There had been a lot of fights, but they had succeeded in winning those fights and escaping, but even then, he really depended on his crew, trusting them wholeheartedly. He now wondered if that made him a good captain, but then shook his head. What kind of captain always depends on his crew to come up with a plan when he should have one already for them to follow? Then again, he valued his crew and what talents they brought with them. Sure, they had their flaws, but were really good people deep down and had never abandoned him or let him down.

"I've got flaws too," he said softly to himself. He was just a kid and in command of a crew, many of whom were older than him by a few years, but whenever he had made a decision, he noticed they never argued with him and even suggested a few ideas to make the decision better, like a battle plan or where to go to next. He always felt better when they were in on the plans too.

An ocean wind gently blew and it was a bit cold as they were up north now, so the sea wasn't all that warm. He shivered, but didn't leave his spot, too deep in thought and wondering if he was a good captain and why his crew trusted him so much.

Brook, the skeleton musician, had been patrolling the deck as it was his turn for night watch when he saw Luffy leaning on the deck rail and also saw him shivering a little. Growing concerned, he quickly went to his room and pulled out a warm blanket, going back up deck and over to where the boy was, gently draping the blanket over Luffy's shoulders. "Captain, it's rather cold up here right now," he said as he watched Luffy pull the blanket more around himself and give him a grateful look.

"Thanks, Brook," he said softly and gazed out at the ocean.

The skeleton cocked a brow bone, noting his captain's behavior wasn't like him. "Luffy, is something wrong?" He asked, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "You're not yourself."

The boy sighed and looked sad, which was something Brook had never seen before. Luffy could get startled, scared a little sometimes, but he had never known him to be sad. "Brook?" He heard him asked after a moment.

"Yes, Luffy?"

The captain turned to him. "I'm counting on you to be honest with me," he said.

"Luffy, I would never lie to you," Brook said. "I would never lie to any of my friends."

"Okay, then. I want you to tell me something," Luffy said. "Am I a good captain?"

That question wasn't quite what the skeleton musician had been expecting, but he nodded. "Of course you are," he said. "You're the great captain of the Thousand Sunny."

"But I'm just a kid," the boy said. "Almost all the crew is older than me, yet they…they count on me to lead them."

"Of course we do," Brook said. "You're our captain."

"But…why do you guys all trust me so much? And…what kind of a captain am I if I rely on my crew to come up with battle plans or the direction to go in when I should already have those planned?"

Ah, now the skeleton was beginning to understand what was bugging his friend. Luffy was young, possibly the youngest captain he had ever met, but although he was young, he never failed to lead his crew and never abandoned them. "Luffy," Brook said after a moment. "I can't speak for the others, but I trust you because you accepted me when we first met. Granted, you were rather surprised to see me as I was you, but you didn't turn away as others had done. And you trust me as a crew mate, therefore, I trust you not only as my captain, but as a friend too."

He then placed a skeletal hand on the boy's shoulder. "And if you rely on your crew to come up with battle plans and the direction we should go in, along with bringing everyone in on plans you have and accepting suggestions to make the plans better, it means that you're willing to listen to everyone and that you want to make the best decision that would benefit all of us. That kind of captain is one who respects his crew and doesn't want to see any of them get hurt," he paused a moment. "And from what I've seen, you are always looking out for the crew because you're worried about us, am I right?"

Luffy nodded. "Because you guys aren't just my crew, you're my friends," he said. "And I'm lucky to have such a great crew that is willing to stand by me and continue our journey to find the great treasure."

"And I can say I'm lucky to be one of your men, Luffy," Brook said with a smile. "If it hadn't been for you, I'd still be wandering on that old ship, alone."

The boy nodded. "I can't imagine how alone you must have felt before you met us," he said. "But I know I don't like feeling alone."

The skeleton nodded and turned to his friend. "Don't doubt yourself as our captain," he said gently. "You've earned my respect and the respect of the others not because you're younger then us, but because you strive to be a good captain and listener, which makes the rest of us feel valued and proud to be part of the Thousand Sunny."

Luffy looked up at him, a small smile on his face. "Thanks, Brook," he said. "I can honestly say it's never boring here on the ship. You, Nami, Sanji, and the others all bring something to the crew and each day is a new adventure. And each day, I'm proud to be the captain of an amazing crew."

Brook smiled, seeing his friend was now coming back to himself again, but then his grin grew as he glanced around, noting the others were sound asleep and he picked the boy up, surprising him. "Let me get you back to your quarters, captain," he said.

The young captain looked a little embarrassed. "Um, I can walk, Brook," he said.

"But you're no doubt a bit tired, are you not?"

Okay, the skeleton had him there, but what he didn't notice was that Brook was heading for another room and didn't notice that the musician had some mischief planned for him. "Make yourself comfortable, Luffy," he said before placing him on the bed.

That was when the boy realized that he was in Brook's room and noticed him placing a small device on one of the walls. "There, no one will now hear us," he heard him say.

"Brook, what are you doing?" Luffy asked curiously, seeing the skeleton turn towards him with a look of mischief on his skull.

"Just being a good friend and cheering you up," Brook said before he suddenly moved faster than the boy had ever seen him move. A second later, bony fingers began wiggling into his underarms and Luffy let out a surprised squeal before giggling, immediately pressing his arms tight against his sides, but the skeleton's tickling fingers weren't deterred as they went for his neck before darting back to the exposed underarms when Luffy went to protect his neck.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! BROOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOK! THAHAHAHAHAHAHAT TIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHICKLES!" He protested.

The skeleton's grin grew wider. "Oh, it does?" He asked teasingly before chuckled. "Tickle, tickle, tickle! I'm going to tickle you silly, Captain!"

The boy was squirming a lot now, trying to use his stretching ability to stop his friend's tickling fingers, but then Brook blew an unexpected raspberry into the exposed stomach and that not only rendered Luffy unable to concentrate enough to use his stretching ability, it also put him into a major laughing fit. "NOT THE RASPBERRIES!" He managed to plead out through his laughter.

"Oh, yes, the raspberries," Brook said teasingly, his fingers keeping his friend's hands busy trying to stop him tickling his underarms. "In fact, since you like them so much, here's some more of them."

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Luffy threw his head back and laughed his hardest, his back arching every time the skeleton blew a raspberry into the ticklish stomach and even letting out another squeal as the tickling fingers moved to his stomach and tickled it all over, not missing an inch of it and making him completely lose himself in laughter. "My, my. Look how ticklish our brave captain is," Brook chuckled. "Not only is he a good friend, he's a good, ticklish friend who I'm going to tickle to pieces."

The boy didn't doubt that, but after a bit, he was having a hard time pulling air into his lungs to breathe, something the skeleton noticed and stopped, allowing Luffy to fall back on the bed and take some deep breaths. As he was recovering, he felt the blanket come around him again and opened his eyes to see Brook had wrapped the blanket gently around him and picked him up again, carrying him out of the room and down the hall where the boy's actual room was. "Here we are," the musician said kindly. "You should get some more sleep, Luffy. We've got a big day ahead tomorrow."

The boy smiled. "Brook, thanks for listening to me," he said. "And for tickling me."

"You're welcome, Luffy," he said. "And what kind of a friend would I be if I didn't cheer you up when you needed it?"

A true smile came to Luffy's face. "You're one of the best friends I've ever had," he said, sitting up and hugging the skeleton, who returned the hug before allowing his friend to settle down. After a moment, Brook saw Luffy was asleep and he stood up, gently blowing out the candle in the room and was about to walk back when he heard the boy shift. "Brook?"

He turned back to his friend. "Yes?" He asked.

Sitting up again, Luffy held out the blanket. "It's pretty cold out there on the deck," he said.

Smiling, Brook accepted the blanket. "Thank you, Captain," he said. "See you in the morning."

"See you in the morning," the boy said and fell back asleep.

Going back on the deck, the skeleton wrapped the blanket around himself as the cold did bother his bones. He then continued his patrol, watching over the rest of the crew and his captain that he was proud to call a friend.

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 **What can I say? Brook is pretty cool and can always cheer up someone. :)**

 **Please leave a review, but no flames!**

 **GoldGuardian2418**


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